EUGENE, Ore.—The No. 16 Oregon Ducks held on to defeat the Washington Huskies, 81-76, on Saturday afternoon at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon improves to 18-2 overall and remains atop the Pac-12 with a 7-0 record in conference play. Washington falls to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in the Pac-12 with the loss.

The last time Oregon started conference play with seven straight victories was the 1925-26 season, when it went 10-0 in the Pacific Coast Conference.

Senior E.J. Singler led the Ducks with 18 points, while fellow seniors Arsalan Kazemi and Carlos Emory scored 11 each. Kazemi grabbed 11 rebounds to finish with his fifth double-double of the season and the 50th of his career.

Five players scored in double figures for the Huskies, led by Andrew Andrews and C.J. Wilcox with 15 and 14, respectively. Abdul Gaddy and Scott Suggs added 13 each, while Shawn Kemp, Jr. scored 12 of his own.

Singler started the game off with a quick basket to set the tone for Oregon. After UW responded with a 3-point basket, Kazemi stripped the ball and passed to Dotson for a fast break layup to get the Ducks going. Junior point guard Johnathan Loyd threw an alley-oop pass to senior Tony Woods before Dotson made another layup to put the Ducks up 8-3.

The Huskies followed with a 7-2 run of their own before freshman guard Willie Moore tied the game up with a fast break layup off of a steal. An E.J. Singler 3-pointer with 14 minutes remaining in the half put Oregon back on top.

After trading baskets, an alley-oop from Loyd to Emory from half-court put Oregon up 20-16. Emory added another one to the highlight reel several minutes later as he threw down a monster one-handed dunk over two defenders, giving the Ducks a 30-28 advantage with four minutes to go in the half.

After a free throw by UW’s Andrew Andrews, Emory followed his dunks up with a shot-clock beating three to extend Oregon’s lead to four. The senior scored his seventh straight on a strong driving layup before the teams traded baskets to send the Ducks into halftime with a 37-33 advantage.

Coming out of halftime, the two sides scored baskets back and forth before the Ducks started to slowly pull away thanks to strong play in the paint. Oregon finished the game with 44 points in the paint compared to Washington’s 28.

Junior Waverly Austin blocked two Husky shots in a row, while scoring two of his seven points in between, near the nine-minute mark. Austin tied his career-high of three blocks.

Oregon’s largest lead came with 7:23 remaining in the game as they led the Huskies by 14. Washington crept back into the game thanks to a full-court press that led to several Oregon turnovers and missed three throws. The Ducks were able to knock down some key free throws with under a minute remaining, however, and closed out the game, 81-76.

The Ducks finished 57.8% (26-of-45) from the floor, while the Huskies shot 51.9% (27-of-52). Oregon also led Washington in points off of turnovers (27-22) and fast break points (10-2).

Oregon returns to the hardwood on Wednesday, Jan. 30th at Stanford.

NOTES:

– Tony Woods blocked a shot in the second half to give him 76 for his career and give him sole possession of third place on UO’s all-time list.

– E.J. Singler knocked down a jumper in the first half to give him 1,338 career points and put him alone in 16th place on Oregon’s all-time scoring list.

– Arsalan Kazemi recorded his fifth double-double of the season and the 50th of his career with his 11-point, 11-rebound performance.

– Oregon is 7-0 in conference play for the first time since the 1925-26 season.

– The Ducks are in the midst of their third-longest home-court winning streak in school history; they trail 23-game winning streaks set from 1936-39 and 2001-03. Their current 20-game streak ranks in a tie for sixth in the nation.

– Oregon is now 5-0 when wearing yellow uniforms.

– Saturday’s sell-out of 12,364 was the highest of the season at Matthew Knight Arena.

– Waverly Austin tied his career-high of three blocks.

– Oregon used its seventh different starting lineup of the season (Moore, Dotson, Singler, Kazemi, Woods).